


Bedmates

by CartoonJessie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fuckbuddies, Hospital, Nonmagic AU, Rumbelle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-21 06:40:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 21,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3681867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CartoonJessie/pseuds/CartoonJessie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Rumbelle Hospital Fuckbuddies Fic!] [COMPLETE!!!] Doctor Whale only put mister Gold and miss French in a hospital room with one another because he figured they both liked solitude just as much. What he did not expect, was for the two of them to develop an unlikely friendship and attraction towards one another. Belle and Rumford soon learn that they prefer one another as bedmates rather than roommates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

After her fall, the hospital had put her in an empty room and assured her father that the bed by her side would stay empty – especially as the hospital was never quite full – too little ever happened in Storybrooke.  
However, perhaps doctor Whale shouldn’t have said: “It’s only in case of disasters that the hospital beds would all get taken, and nothing bad ever happens in Storybrooke.” It was like those words had jinxed it.  
Because two weeks later, while Belle was still recovering, a fire broke out during a wedding in a large mansion by the side of Storybrooke. In the two hours that followed, a hundred people were brought in with severe burns and over half of those were required to stay for the night.  
Belle shared her room with Ruby – who she knew from Granny’s diner – and the girl had quite a nasty scar on her arm, running all the way up to her shoulder – and there was a haunted gaze in her eyes as she looked at the television in the far corner of the room. Belle tried to distract the girl, but at this moment she was too shocked to respond in a sentence that was longer than four words, or to talk about anything that had happened.  
Two days later, Ruby was moved to another room, with other survivors of the accident, which doctor Whale justified by saying it would break her out of her isolation, and was more of a decision for her psychological welfare than for any logistic reasons.  
Belle thought that perhaps some peace and quiet would follow for her then, but again her peace did not hold very long as she woke in the middle of the night when she noticed that the light was turned on and the nurses entered with another patient – one she could not see anything off since doctor Whale and the nurses were blocking her view.  
A curtain was closed between the two beds, and she heard the doctor ask the nurses to check the patient’s vital signs, and to keep an eye on him for the next half an hour minimum.  
Belle looked at doctor Whale as he walked by her bed, but he did not look at her at all – instead he seemed distracted by his own thoughts, and he left before Belle had a chance to ask anything.  
She fell asleep with the sound of the soft chatter of the two nurses in the background, wondering who they had brought in and how long her peace would be disturbed this time.


	2. Chapter 2

The following morning, Belle woke an hour before breakfast would be served, and though she still wasn’t able to walk properly, she was able to make it to the toilet by herself, limping towards the bathroom door, but on her way back she wondered who was in the bed by the window. She stopped by the curtain that gave them both some privacy, and was a little shocked to notice that it was a man – an older man, whose head was bandaged and whose face betrayed that he was in some pain. Belle wondered what had happened to him – and why doctor Whale had put a man in her room – and waited for the nurses to bring her some breakfast.  
When they saw she was awake, they explained the situation to her: “Mister won’t bother you, miss. He’s been unconscious since he came here – got a blow to the head.”  
“With a gun, you mean?” Belle asked curiously.  
“No, miss, with a baseball bat, is what they think. He is most likely to have some brain damage, like you did too, miss.”  
“I still do,” Belle reminded them, a little annoyed that they didn’t acknowledge one of the main reasons why she was in the hospital still. Not that she was mugged or anything of the sort – and she certainly didn’t have anyone hit her with a baseball bat.  
“We know you appreciate your peace and quiet, miss, and that’s also what this man needs. We hope he will recover soon. The doctor will check up on him a few times a day and so will we. But other than that, you should not worry about visitors or anything of the sort, he’s quite a solitary figure in this town.”  
Belle nodded, a little relieved that there would be no strangers in the room, and after she finished her breakfast, she started reading one of her books. When the nurses came to pick up her plate, she asked if they could open the curtain that separated the two of them – just in case he would wake up – so that she could spot it in time.  
The nurses were glad that Belle seemed so willing to help, and did as she asked, and as she read, she would turn to look at the man every few minutes, but he seemed quite lifeless as he lay there – and he did not move during the first day, and also during the second day nothing happened.  
“This is problematic,” doctor Whale explained to her on the third day. “This is starting to look more and more like a coma. I had expected him to wake from that blow within the first 48 hours. It would be to his best interest if he would wake soon. If he doesn’t wake this week, I’m afraid that he never might. Not that the scans of his brain indicate such extensive damage, so I’m surprised he has not woken up yet. I had expected him to be conscious again by now.”  
The fourth night he spent in her company, Belle woke as she heard a soft moan besides her, and her eyes were open in an instant. The room was dark if it were not for the faint moonlight that shone behind the curtain-covered window. But she was certain that she saw him move a little, not much, but his moans sounded frustrated and Belle wondered if he was conscious or just dreaming.  
“Mister…” she said softly, getting out of her bed and limping over to his. She reached for his hand and was surprised when she felt the force with which he grabbed it. Perhaps he was weakened by his injuries, but the adrenaline he felt for waking up in a strange bed gave him enough energy to hold onto her for his dear life.  
“Where am I?” he croaked in a raspy voice. “Why… why can’t I see…”  
“You’re in Storybrooke hospital. It’s night now – and very dark in this room. Shall I turn some lights on?”  
She did not wait for his response but reached for the button against the wall, turning on the harsh light of the TL lights in the ceiling. She squeezed her eyes shut from the sudden abundance of light, but noticed that he did quite the opposite. His eyes were wide open.  
“I can’t see,” he repeated, a bit of panic in his voice. “Are the lights on yet?”  
“I…” Belle’s heart sank to her stomach. What on earth was she supposed to say?  
She reached for the red button in the wall, which would alert the nurses that there was an emergency, and though there was no sound that betrayed to the man that she had pressed the button, she knew that the nurses would hear a loud alarm in their office, and they would be here within a minute.  
“Please, mister,” she said in a gentle tone, taking his hand with both of hers. “Everything is going to be fine. You took a heavy blow to the head, and I’m glad you are awake again. You were out for a few days.”  
“I don’t remember…” he muttered, his gaze frustrated, even if his eyes could not see anything. Instead, his pupils seemed to move all over the room, but he wasn’t seeing a thing. “What happened?”  
Belle wanted to tell him, but she simply did not know much about his situation. She was glad when the nurses entered the room, and they were relieved to find the man awake again.  
“Mister Gold,” one of the nurses said warmly. “It is good to see you woke up at last. Do you know where you are?”  
“The hospital,” he replied, his voice trembling now. “What happened? I can’t see? Why can’t I see?”  
The nurses seemed alarmed by this, and exchanged a dark gaze with one another before one took Belle by the shoulders and directed her to her bed.  
“Thank you for your assistance, Miss French. You should rest though – it is the middle of the night. We will take it from here.”  
Belle reluctantly returned to her own bed, hating it that she was blocked a view of this while the nurses closed the curtain again, but she kept listening to the entire conversation. From what the nurses told the man, it appeared like a burglar had broken into his home and smacked the back of his head with a baseball bat. Mister Gold – though he did not remember any of these events – wanted to know if the burglar had been caught, and let out a frustrated groan when they said the burglar had run off – and that one of his neighbors had heard him scream in the middle of the night, and that that was why they had found him so quickly.  
Rumford admitted to having a horrible headache, which became worse as the nurses talked, which was something he also admitted, and they promised him to contact doctor Whale to ask about his inability to see at this moment. They remained optimistic though, and said that it sometimes was only a temporary occurrence. Then they left him to rest, and as they left the room, they dimmed the lights a bit, with only a single lamp by his bedside still burning.  
At first it was completely quiet in the room, until Belle suddenly heard some sniffs and sobs, and it only took her a moment to move out of her bed again, as quietly as she could. As she looked at him from behind the curtain, she found that he looked so miserable and pathetic, all on his own, with apparently a bit of memory loss, a brand-new visual impairment and a horrible headache, and she softly approached him even further, taking his hand again as she had before, and feeling how he startled by the sudden touch.  
“Don’t worry, mister Gold,” she said softly, hoping to comfort him.  
“You… you were here when I woke,” he acknowledged, recognizing her voice and touch. “Who are you?”  
“Belle,” she replied gently. “I’m… I’m here for something similar as you. Some brain damage, as well as an injury to my ankle. But… I’ve been here a while longer.”  
He seemed surprised that she was another patient.  
“How many patients are in this room?” he wondered, a little annoyed that he was not alone.  
“Just us,” she assured him. “And only because they thought it would be better if you were not alone when you woke. Perhaps… perhaps you’ll get another room tomorrow. I promise I won’t bother you though, if you don’t want me to. I like it quiet myself. I’m not very chatty usually.”  
For one who claimed to be a quiet type, she talked a lot, but her voice was quiet and gentle, and not worsening his headache, at least not for now. Not to mention that he found her accent to be rather soothing. Foreigners in Storybrooke were rather rare.  
He wiped away the tears he had cried, glad to find that he was still able to cry – that meant his eyes weren’t completely broken.  
“Would you like me to leave?” she asked him, afraid of his answer, but after he remained quiet for what seemed like a full minute, he eventually replied: “No… Not now.”  
She felt his hand squeeze hers again, and as she wrapped her hands around his, she noticed that he cried again, and she thought it was very brave that he did not try to hide it from her.  
_What a shame_ , she thought to herself, _that a man with beautiful eyes like his might never be able to see again. I do hope he will get better soon._  
When doctor Whale entered, he was surprised to find Belle leaning against the edge of the man’s bed, holding onto his hand, and though he raised an eyebrow at the sight, he did not comment on it.  
“Mister Gold,” he said gently. “Even though it is the middle of the night, I would like to examine you in regards to your sudden loss of eyesight. Miss French, if I may?”  
She nodded quickly, then squeezed his hand before she let go of it, imagining for a moment that she felt him squeeze back.  
As mister Gold was taken out of the room, she hoped he would be alright again soon. He had seemed so incredibly sad. She hoped that – before he would leave – she would see him happy at least once. 


	3. Chapter 3

Belle did not wake until the nurses came to bring them breakfast. The cart they used to transport the food had metal wheels that were quite squeaky and loud, and as Belle sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes, she looked to the side and noticed that her neighbor was wearing a bandage in front of his eyes now, but he seemed tense by the noise, even bringing one hand up to his ear, as though he was trying to stop the sounds.   
The nurses were cheerful as they gave them their plates, and a bit too loud for her neighbor’s liking, and one nurse stayed by mister Gold’s side to help him eat breakfast, offering to feed him the bowl of yoghurt herself.   
He refused to accept any help though, and ate the bowl of yoghurt by himself, even if he could not see the yoghurt in the bowl at all. Still – he managed – and without messing up too much, and Belle could not help but watch him a few times as she ate her morning sandwich.   
Per his request, he was given a sandwich as well, and he was able to eat that with a little more dignity, and when the nurses left again and Belle was alone in the room with mister Gold, she turned her head to watch him, noticing how he sat rather rigidly on the hospital bed, his fists clenched as he waited for Belle to say something.  
Belle did not dare to say anything though – and she wasn’t quite sure if it was her business to talk to him. But still, she had to admit that she was very curious about his well-being. Was he ever going to see again? He wondered if he had been given a straight answer to that.   
Deciding to give him the quiet he needed at this moment, she grabbed a book from her bedside table and began to read it, not even knowing if mister Gold was still awake or not. But after turning another page, she suddenly heard him ask: “What are you reading?”   
Surprised that he would engage in a conversation with her, she replied: “Frankenstein.”  
She looked at him, but seeing how he did not move at all, she turned her gaze back to the book, ready to continue her reading when she heard his voice again.  
“I saw the movie as a child,” he remembered. “Black and white.”  
There was an air of melancholy that hung over him, and though he sat a little straighter for a moment, she noticed how he slumped in his pillow again when he noticed she wasn’t talking back to him.  
Feeling guilty for her own silence in that moment, Belle bit her lip. She did not want to annoy him or scare him away either, but something was telling her that he did not mind her talking as much and she continued after a few moments: “I never really saw any of the movies… Though I suppose everyone knows the story regardless of that. It’s my first time reading the book.”   
She saw how he sat a little straighter again, and she also noticed how his hand trembled as he spoke, and she found this very peculiar. “Are you enjoying it?”  
“Very much so,” she replied eagerly, and she reminded herself to keep her tone soft. “I think it’s wonderfully written and so different from how I imagined it. I really can’t wait to figure out what will happen between Frankenstein and his monster next.”   
She hoped she was not imagining it, but she thought that she saw a smile on the man’s lips.   
“May I ask…” she began bravely, and she gulped before she continued: “…what doctor Whale has predicted about your recovery so far?”  
His smile vanished again, but he did indulge her. “I will need to wear a bandage around my eyes for the next week. After that time, they will check to see if my eyesight has returned. They don’t want to stress out the optic nerve, you see. I have a mild concussion too, but that should be better soon enough.”   
“If you want me to shut up, just tell me,” she offered quickly, but he waved his hand dismissively as she said that.   
“No worries, miss, I will. To be honest… The thought of sitting in this bed for the next seven days without the ability to see anything is rather terrifying. I always like to keep myself busy to distract my mind, but I’m afraid that I can’t even do that right now. Though I am solitary in nature, I would prefer a distraction at this moment.”  
Belle smiled as she heard him speak those words, and she replied: “I understand that sentiment. I am rather solitary too, and I can’t imagine what a hell it must be to you to be unable to occupy your own mind with things like reading or even watching a movie. If you should want me to read to you, or talk to you, or if you want to listen to the music on my mp3-player, just say so. It would be my pleasure to help.”  
She saw another smile on his lips, and she was glad that he seemed pleased with her offer.   
He folded his hands in his lap as he replied, for once looking a bit more at ease. “Thank you, miss… I’m afraid I don’t remember your name?”  
“French,” she replied swiftly. “But please, do call me Belle.”  
“Belle,” he repeated, trying out the name on his lips. He quite liked her name.  
Wondering if she would get the honor of learning his first name as well, she asked: “And what may I call you, mister Gold?”  
She wondered if she was imagining how his cheeks reddened at that question. Was he blushing now?   
“Rumford,” he said softly.   
“Rumford,” she repeated, smiling to herself. “That’s a pretty name.”  
He blushed once more, and even averted his face from her a little, and she found it very endearing.   
“I fear that I’m getting a small headache now,” he said honestly. “I should probably rest.”  
“Do you want some water first?” she asked. “I noticed you had not drank any yet, and the nurses said it would be good for you.”  
He only hesitated a moment before he nodded, and Belle got out of her bed to pour him a glass. As she offered it to him, she saw his fingers touch hers as he took the glass, and he felt how soft her skin was. If he had doubted it before, he knew she was much younger than he was, yet he secretly wished he could hold her hand again. Her touch of the night before had comforted him in a way that words had not been able to do, but he did not dare to ask her to touch her again.   
Before she left him to rest though, he felt her hand on his shoulder, squeezing him again – and even by the time she was back in her own bed, it was like he could still feel her touch. Why did it linger so, when all other touches in his life had been so easily forgotten before?   
He tried to let sleep take him, and when it finally did, thoughts of Belle haunted his mind. 


	4. Chapter 4

Rumford Gold was woken up by the sheriff around lunchtime, who wanted to ask him if he remembered anything from the night of the attack. Belle tried to eavesdrop, but was immediately called away by the nurses to go to a therapy session. In order to stay fit, they had insisted she’d go to some sessions so she’d get a bit of exercise.  
By the time she returned, sheriff Swan was gone again, and Rumford lay still in his bed, not moving at all, and Belle wondered if he was asleep. As she limped towards her bed, holding onto a crutch, he heard her, and his head turned immediately.  
“Belle?” he asked carefully, trying not to sound too hopeful, yet she smiled because of it.  
“Yes, it’s me,” she replied. “Had to do some exercises to stay fit. How was your talk with the sheriff?”  
“Frustrating,” he admitted. “I can’t recall anything of the attack, and apparently my house is a mess and they don’t know if anything is missing. And as long as I can’t see anything, I can’t even look at the pictures and point out what looks off.”  
He sighed, clearly very frustrated by this, and Belle made her way over to the side of his bed, once more reaching out for his hand, and it meant a lot to her when he grabbed a firm hold of it again.  
“They might never find who did this if I don’t get better,” he muttered. “It angers me, because I have no idea who did this.”  
“You don’t have any enemies?” Belle wondered, and she was surprised to hear him laugh all of a sudden.  
“Quite the opposite, I suppose. Though _enemies_ might be a strong term. Let’s just say that I’m not very well liked by most people that know me.”  
Belle could not help but wonder why that was the case. She _liked_ him – even if she hardly knew him. There was something about him that she thought was charming.  
“Perhaps they don’t really know you then,” she suggested optimistically, and she gently stroked the back of his hand with her fingertips.  
He could not explain why he felt such a nervous knot in his stomach because of the attention she gave to him. Did she genuinely care for him? The thought had to be too good to be true.  
“Would you like me to read to you later on?” she continued, trying to distract his thoughts from the earlier subject. “I could look for a newspaper – or just read from a book, if you would prefer that.”  
“A book,” he decided after a moment’s thoughts. “Which do you have?”  
“Several by Jules Verne, Jane Eyre, Frankenstein and Lord of the Rings. Personally, I would suggest Jane Eyre or Frankenstein. I think they would lend best to being read aloud.”  
“Jane Eyre then,” he replied. “Since I already know Frankenstein from the movies, I suppose I would prefer to hear a new story. It would keep my mind from wandering.”  
Belle was pleased with his choice. “Excellent. I am going to wash my hair first though, then I can read for a few hours before it’s time for dinner.”  
As she left, he could not help but feel that strange excited knot in his stomach again. What was going on? And why was he smiling despite the trauma he had endured?

 

It did not take very long for the bond between them to grow stronger. He relied on her voice and words to keep him sane and distracted, and the story she had started reading was absolutely wonderful.  
He could not help but wonder what she looked like as he listened to that beautiful voice, with the slightly foreign accent, and as she sat on the edge of his bed while she read to him, he could feel the warmth of her body as she sat so close to him – even if they weren’t even touching each other.  
She smelled of vanilla things – and he wondered if he would have ever noticed that if he had still been able to see.  
But when she continued reading after dinner, he noticed how she would sometimes pause a second, and he’d feel her weight on his bed shift a little for a small second, and he wondered what was going on precisely. After a while, he began to fear she was physically uncomfortable sitting on the edge of the bed, and he asked: “Belle, are you alright? You can’t seem to sit still for more than a minute or two now. Are you in pain?”  
Surprised he had figured that out, she admitted: “It’s my neck and shoulders a bit. I’m not used to sitting up straight when reading so much. Bad posture, I guess.”  
Before he even realized what he was doing himself, he was shoveling to the side of his bed, careful not to go too close to the edge, and Belle smiled as she realized he was inviting her to share his pillow. As she moved up on the bed, her shoulder against his, she let the book rest on her stomach as they both lay there, and she gladly continued reading, not fully realizing how delighted Rumford felt with her by his side. A man his age seldom felt the bliss of having such a wonderful companion in his bed – even if it was just for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

They would spend many more hours sitting beside one another while Belle read to him, but she’d always make sure she was back in her own bed by the time the nurses came in to bring them lunch or dinner, or when they came to check up on them.   
Rumford was glad his concussion was passing – even if memories of the night in question seemed to be completely forgotten. As three days had passed since Rumford had woken up, he had to admit that he had grown rather curious about his roommate. As he heard her limping back from the bathroom, he gently breached the subject: “Belle… If I may ask… But… why are you here precisely? I hear you limp too.”  
Belle was glad that he finally asked. She had wondered if he ever would.   
“I eh… I fell down the stairs. My ankle took most of the damage – and apparently my brain too. Had quite a bump on my head when I came in. Forgot several things,” she rambled quickly, trying to wave it all away, and she continued cheerfully: “But they say I will make a full recovery in time. So I’m trying to make the most of my stay here while I can.”  
He smiled. People with such a positive view on life were rare. And while he had often found such people annoying in the past, he didn’t think he’d ever find Belle annoying. She was wonderful.   
“You limp too,” Belle remarked. “Is that from the burglar?”  
“No,” he assured her. “It’s an old wound, not related to what happened last week. Got it in a car crash, ages ago.” Wanting to distract her from the subject, he continued carefully: “I eh… I can’t help but notice you don’t get many visitors…” He hated the fact that he could not look at her face to gauge her reaction. But he listened with the intent of picking up on any signal that could indicate she was uncomfortable.   
“Ah… yes,” she admitted in an awkward tone. “My dad visits once or twice a week. But eh… I don’t have that many friends.”   
“Why not?” he wondered, quickly adding: “I mean… you seem so lovely.”  
They both blushed after he had said that, and Belle thought him to be one of the kindest people she had ever met.   
“People just… think I’m strange, I suppose. And – I must admit – I prefer spending time alone with a book over going to parties and such… And since there aren’t any book clubs or anything of the sort in Storybrooke, I don’t really have friends. People in Storybrooke are so… _simple_. I never felt like I fit in.”   
He was actually smiling as she said that – glad that he was not the only one to feel that way about the inhabitants of their town.   
“If you wish,” he began slowly. “Then we could have our own book club. At least for now and… perhaps also once we’re both out of the hospital? I would not mind reading with you again in the future.”   
Belle’s heart skipped a beat. No one had ever suggested such a thing, and she was quiet for a few moments, noticing how Rumford was nervously fidgeting with his hands as he waited for her response.   
“I would love that,” she said warmly, and as she grabbed her book, she limped to his bed and crawled onto it, moving to the space she was always welcome to vacate next to him. “Now… Shall I continue our reading? We’re nearing the end of the story.”


	6. Chapter 6

That night, when the lights were already out, they both tried to catch some sleep, but heavy winds and rain outside the window kept them up. The noise it left inside the hospital room was incredible, and Belle got chills from listening to the howling wind. When a bolt of lightning lit up the room, she froze, and her breathing became a little uneven, her entire body tensing up. As the thunder rolled through the room a few seconds later, it became clear that the storm was nearing them.   
“Rumford,” she whispered, her voice rather terrified, and he immediately picked up on it.  
“Belle?” he whispered in reply. “Are you alright?”   
She shook her head, even if she knew he could not see that. “No,” she whispered in fear. “I’m terrified of lightning.”   
As she heard him move to the side of his bed and hold up the blanket for her, it only took her a few seconds before she was by his side, allowing him to wrap his arm around her.   
The fabric of their hospital gowns – his blue and hers yellow – didn’t feel particularly soft or sexy, yet Rumford could not stop his arousal as she put her head underneath his and hid her face against his chest. He could feel her warm breathing through his clothes, and he gulped away a heavy lump in his throat.   
“I know it’s silly,” she spoke, closing her eyes. “But I’ve had this fear as a child, and I’ve never been able to get rid of it.”   
“Were your parents afraid of lightning too?” he wondered softly, trying to distract himself from thinking too much about the way she smelled or how warm she felt in his arms.   
“Yes,” she admitted. “Both of them.”   
“I’m not afraid,” he told her. “And you’re safe here. I will keep you warm and comfortable.”  
As if to test that, another flash lit up the room, and the thunder followed a moment later. Belle trembled like a leaf in that moment, and he brought his hand to her face, holding his breath as he gently touched her cheek.   
Her skin felt so soft, and he noticed how she was holding her breath too while he touched her.   
“I wish I knew what you looked like,” he admitted, and he found his fingers slowly tracing her cheekbone and her jaw.   
Belle had seldom felt anything as arousing, and held her breath as she lifted her face so he could reach it more easily. He realized she was inviting him to touch her – to try and make an image of her by his sense only. He let his fingers trail over her ridiculously soft skin, touching the bridge of her nose, her closed eyelids, her lips, her neck, anything to try and imagine how she looked, but all he could think was that she had to be beautiful – and even if she wasn’t – she was fully responsible for the erection he tried to keep as far away from her as possible.   
“What color is your hair?” he whispered.  
“Brown,” she replied. “With a bit of a red hue to it.”  
“And your eyes?”  
“Blue…”   
Her answers did nothing to relieve his excitement and as he tried to catch her scent and found she had brought the smell of vanilla with her once more, he licked his lips.   
She was watching him, and she had noticed the lump in his throat, and the trembling of his lips as he had touched her, and though there was no reason for her to do it, she brought her fingertips to his face and gently touched him too.   
He had a slight stubble – and soon she found her fingers touching his lips, finding them to feel surprisingly soft in comparison to his jaw. He did not speak, but he did not move away from her touch either, and she even found that he only leaned into it.   
He kept on stroking her face as well – as the rain against the window increased and the winds grew heavier too. But the weather was soon forgotten by the both of them, especially as their faces were inching closer to one another with each passing second. Soon, they could feel each other’s breath on their lips, and as Belle closed her eyes, they finally met for a feather light kiss, both of them trembling as their wet lips met.   
As the kiss was broken, neither of them dared to speak about it, and as they did not want the silence to endure, they kissed each other again, their hands moving from their faces and necks to their backs, holding the other one as close as was physically possible.   
When he noticed how Belle suddenly pulled away, he feared for a moment that she had changed her mind, but instead, he felt how the attention of her lips was moved to his neck, and a shuddering sigh escaped his mouth, betraying just how aroused he was.   
Unable to take back that sound, he hoped she had not heard it and realized what it meant, but when he felt her hand meet his arousal through the fabric of the blue nightgown, he had to stifle a moan or a cry – he wasn’t sure how he would have responded if he had not bit his lip at that moment.   
Her exploring hands learned quickly enough just how aroused he was, and when he noticed how she was pulling up his nightgown to reveal his erection underneath the blankets, he muttered: “You don’t have to…”  
“I want to,” she interrupted him, her voice hoarse from desire. He didn’t think he had ever heard anyone sexier than her, and he bit his lip as she touched his bared erection. He was moving heaven and earth to keep still, for he knew that he could have cried the entire hospital awake in that moment if he had let himself go.   
How it had come to this, he did not know, but as she started moving her hand over his member, jerking him off, he took deep breaths, trying to steady himself.   
“If you want to come,” she whispered in his ear, sending chills down his spine with each breath he felt. “Then do… I will clean it up, don’t worry about that. No one needs to know. It can be our secret.”  
Gods, he had never guessed how turned on he’d get by those words.  
“Wait,” he muttered, feeling like it was going too fast. “Let me… let me touch you too…”  
He gulped when he suddenly felt her pull away and shift her entire weight. She was moving, but he had no idea what she was doing. Was she going to leave him now? Had she disliked that proposal so much?  
He heard the ruffling of clothes and it took him a moment to realize that she was crawling back underneath the blanket with him, and when he put his hand on her back, he realized that he no longer felt the uncomfortable fabric of the nightgown. Letting his hand travel all over her back, he startled when he realized he had reached the soft flesh of her bum without encountering any fabric at all. She was completely naked for him, and he was glad that she had stopped jerking him off or he would have come then and there.   
With one arm around her, he shifted his weight so that he was suddenly on top of her, and as he guided her to the middle of the bed, he kissed her lips, feeling twenty years younger because she returned his kisses so eagerly. Her hands travelled to his neck, touching his hair, careful not to touch the bandage around his eyes though. Her soft but excited breathing was driving him wild, and he found himself exploring her body with his kisses, his lips caressing her neck and collarbone until he reached her breasts, gently sucking on her nipples and kissing the soft flesh around it.   
Everything about her was so warm and soft that he was growing surer that she was an actual angel – not a real person. No one would ever give herself so willingly to him, yet here she was.   
As he moved his lips back to hers, his hand travelled between her legs, spreading those lips to feel if she was as excited for him as he was for her. As his fingers neared her entrance, he was surprised to find her so slick that he could have easily slid his fingers inside of her, but instead he brought those fingers back up to her clit. Her soft moans as he started circling that sensitive area only made his cock twitch in return.   
He thanked the weather for covering the sound of their soft moans to any people that would pass by their room in the hallway, and sped up the movements of his hand, rubbing around her clit until her breathing became a steady panting, and he felt how tightly she clutched him by his shoulders.   
“Almost…” she whispered, the word a promise to him, and despite his own wish, his own breathing was becoming more irregular too.   
When she suddenly let go of one of his shoulders and grabbed his cock, he gasped, losing his rhythm for a few seconds.   
But then, as she started jerking him off at a faster pace than before, he picked up the same pace, and as she suddenly started moaning in his ear, her own hand now clumsily rubbing over his cock as she felt her release, he felt a familiar twitch and emptied himself on her stomach a few seconds later.   
As she moaned in his ear, he moaned in hers, and they both felt rather exhausted, but incredibly pleased about what had happened.   
Slowly, their normal pace of breathing returned to the both of them, and Belle saw him smile, and she smiled in return.   
“Careful,” he whispered, reaching one hand for the Kleenex box by the side of his bed. As he pulled out a few tissues, he put them on Belle’s stomach, trying to clean her up – even if he could not see where he had spilled all his seeds.   
“Let me,” she offered gladly, taking a few tissues from his hands to clean herself up a bit. She also made sure to clean him up as well, and pulled down his nightgown again before she tossed the tissues in the bin next to his bed.   
Unsure of what to do next, he was relieved when he found how Belle wrapped her arms around him again, not leaving his side just yet.   
“Sounds like the storm is passing,” she whispered, and he could not help but smile.   
“Are you still afraid of lightning?” he wondered, and she chuckled.   
“Perhaps not as much as I was before. But I might still join you in bed next time there’s a storm.”  
“I hope you won’t wait that long,” he replied, surprised by his own nerve, and when she kept quiet, he feared he had screwed up, but instead, her lips found a way to his ear, and she whispered: “Tomorrow then… I enjoyed this a lot.”  
“As did I,” he replied, feeling how his body was really too exhausted to stay awake much longer. “But we must keep quiet,” he reminded her. “If they find out…”  
“I know,” she whispered, putting her finger on his lip. “They won’t. We’ll make sure they won’t. I’ll be back.”   
She kissed him passionately, and he was so baffled by it that he missed the moment she rolled out of his bed and got dressed again. He heard how she disappeared into the bathroom to clean herself up, but was asleep before she returned.


	7. Chapter 7

The following morning, Belle woke to the sound of Rumford limping towards the bathroom, using his hands for support against the walls, trying to figure out where the bathroom was while he could not see.   
“Need help?” she asked, her voice still deep with sleep as she rubbed her eyes, and she saw him shake his head.   
“I’ll manage.”   
There was an amused undertone to his voice, and as he found the bathroom door and disappeared inside for a few moments, Belle stretched.   
When he entered the room again, she watched him as he headed towards his bed again, his limp actually worse than hers was.   
“How did you get that limp in the first place?” she wondered, and she noticed how his smile disappeared as she asked that question.   
“Car accident,” he muttered. “Long ago.”  
The way he tensed up and seemed to lose all joy for life with those few words, made Belle wonder if he had lost something important that day.  
As though he could guess that her silence was proof of her curiosity, he admitted: “I lost my son that day. He was in the passenger seat, and not as lucky. That was fourteen years ago.”  
Belle bit her lip, only now realizing how his life had been different from hers. Her life seemed so eventless and empty all of a sudden, and she felt his pain.   
“I’m so sorry,” she said compassionately. “I had no idea.”   
He moved to his bed and sat down with a heavy sigh.   
“I know, Belle.” He covered his legs with the blanket again, leaning back in the bed. “Since he died, my life has been so empty. And for years, I’ve tried to deny that even to myself, but when I was brought here – with that concussion and now my loss of eyesight – I realized that… I haven’t been living at all. I’ve been surviving.” He kept quiet for a few moments, and Belle knew that he was not done thinking yet. “No one has gotten as close to me as you have in years. And I don’t just mean physically close…”   
Realizing how seriously he meant that, Belle gulped.   
She had known in her heart that there was a strong bond between them – perhaps fate was involved as well, for she had never believed in any bond like this before. Whatever they had, it was very special indeed.  
“Most people in this town make me feel strange – just for sharing a room with them, often. But you don’t,” Belle admitted softly. “My life has always been empty… Like you, I feel I’ve been surviving instead of living… What happened last night… I never felt anything like that for anyone before. I suppose it’s because I feel that we click mentally, that I’m able to surrender myself physically as well.”   
She noticed the small smile on his lips, and was glad to see him nod.  
“I was married, once – long ago – but… last night was so different – better, in my opinion…” His voice was low as he admitted that, and Belle thought she saw him blush.   
“Let’s try and make tonight even better,” she whispered, blushing as well. “I want to spend as much time with you as I can.”   
“And I with you,” he replied warmly. “Luckily, we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”  
Belle laughed, finding that quite amusing. “Luckily we’re both too injured and dependent on others to go home, yes.”  
They both laughed softly, and as the nurses entered with their breakfast at that moment, they ended their conversation, but while they ate, they could only think of one another.

 

Rumford had asked the nurses to help him shave that day, and Belle wondered if he had asked that especially for her. She had not minded his stubble much, but thinking about how he would feel that night without the stubble made her rather curious – and she could not stop her mind from wandering.   
She spent a great deal of time showering as well, and when she returned to the room, he stood by his bed, or in fact, he was holding onto the edge, walking around it with his usual limp.  
“Are you alright?” she wondered, and she saw how he startled.   
“I had not heard you come in,” he admitted. “But I’m alright. Just stretching my legs a bit. I’m tired of sitting still.”   
Belle made her way over to him and took his hand in hers, glad to feel how he welcomed the touch and held her firmly. “Want to go for a little walk perhaps? We could walk down the hall. I heard there’s a candy machine on the other side of this floor.”   
He chuckled. “That sounds like a noble quest, miss French.” He was teasing her, obviously, and she quite liked it. He continued in a more serious tone: “But I’m not sure I want to be seen like this. I have a reputation to hold up, you see.”   
“Not many people would see us,” she assured him. “Visiting hours don’t start for another forty minutes. It would just be the nurses and perhaps some other patients. And besides, you look fine.”  
“I’m wearing pajama pants and a hospital blouse.”  
“At least it goes well with your color,” she teased him. “Honestly, you look fine. And it’s just five minutes. I won’t leave your side.”  
The thought of walking by her side was alluring, but at the same time he was a little worried someone would see him and recognize him.   
“Take my cane,” he said eventually, giving in with a grumpy frown on his face, and Belle happily got it from the corner of the room, offering it to him and noticing how he leaned quite heavily on it. “Grab some cash too. I don’t intend to go all the way to the candy machine to have no currency on me.”  
Belle chuckled and obliged him, rattling the change in her hand so that he could hear it, and he smiled approvingly.  
“Lead the way,” he continued. “I can’t see, so… You will have to make sure I don’t bump into anything.”   
Belle gently took him by the elbow. Perhaps that would seem like a strange place to hold someone, but she knew it was best spot to hold someone who had trouble seeing. He could actually feel how she was steering him in certain directions, just by following the direction in which she tried to move his elbow.   
As they headed through the hallway, doctor Whale looked up as they passed by him, his eyes wide as he realized mister Gold was actually walking around – even if he could not see a thing. He had not expected the man to leave his bed this week, but was glad and surprised that Belle had convinced him to do otherwise.   
They made it to the candy machine, where Belle started listing everything inside. They eventually both picked a chocolate bar and headed back to their room, the two of them making quite the odd pair as they both limped through the hallway.   
“My ankle is getting better,” Belle said softly. “I wouldn’t have been able to walk this far without any bad ache a few days ago.”  
“Don’t say it too loudly,” he warned her playfully. “Before you know it they’ll dismiss you. I wouldn’t want that.”  
Belle gulped and turned rather pale, realizing she didn’t want that either. She really did not want to leave either, and was eerily quiet as they headed back into the room, and didn’t say anything as she led him back to his bed, then returned to close the door behind them.   
“Are you alright?” he asked, finding it a little eerie how she had grown so quiet all of a sudden.   
“Yeah,” she replied absent-mindedly. “Just a little tired. I think I’ll get some sleep. Do you want my mp3-player in the meanwhile? You could listen to some music.”   
Quite intrigued to learn about the music she listened to, he accepted her offer, and soon they were both in their separate beds again, but he could not help but shake off the feeling that something was off. Had it been something he’d said?


	8. Chapter 8

Belle had only been sleeping for a few minutes as far as he knew, when the door suddenly opened and he could hear the heavy footsteps of a man through the music he was listening to.   
“Belle?” the man asked gently, but no response came and he went to sit on a chair next to her bed.  
In the meanwhile, mister Gold lay awkwardly in his own bed, wondering if the man had spotted him too, or if the curtain was actually blocking him from the man’s view.   
He paused the mp3-player he’d been listening to, but did not hear the man say anything else for minutes, and even began to wonder if the man was still in the room, until he heard him get up again and head to Belle, perhaps thirty minutes after he had first entered.   
“Belle,” he repeated again, and mister Gold heard how the sound came from besides Belle’s bed. “Please wake up.”  
As he shook her, Belle moaned.   
“Papa,” she mumbled. “I’m tired.”  
“I have hardly spoken with you since you got here,” he said, sadness in his tone. “The doctor said that perhaps I would be able to help you remember the things you have forgotten. He said it’s good for you to speak with people you know.”  
Belle sighed. “I’m sure it will come back to me in time.” She wanted to end the conversation then and there, but doubted she could.  
Mister Gold had been listening to each and every word, and suddenly startled when he heard the man speak again. The gentleness and kindness of the moment before were suddenly gone, and he sounded incredibly annoyed.   
“We don’t have much more time, Belle! You _need_ to remember Gaston. As soon as you can.”  
“I don’t know why I don’t remember him,” she said, her voice a little higher than it usually was. “I can’t force these things, papa!”   
“Well you better make sure you remember him quickly, because he isn’t going to wait for you forever! I gave him my word, and if we break it, then…” The man stopped talking, and instead started pacing frantically in front of his daughter’s bed. “Look, Belle, my life could be at stake here. Gaston… he… he’s a good guy. He can save us both. You promised to help out, so… so just say you’re feeling better – say you remember him – and… and you can leave this hospital. They wouldn’t keep you in here for a sore ankle only!”  
“But I don’t remember him!” she replied stubbornly, tears in her eyes.   
“Well you should!” Maurice snapped. “He’s your bloody fiancée – how could you forget him by falling down the bloody stairs?”  
The man’s raised voice had been heard from outside in the hallway, and a nurse entered, asking them if everything was alright, and as Maurice muttered an angry ‘fine’, he took his jacket and left the hospital room again, leaving Belle in tears.   
Mister Gold himself hadn’t even considered helping Belle out in that moment, even if everyone else probably would have. He had been too shocked to learn she had a fiancée.   
They had shared their hospital beds. He had grown attached to her.  And now… _she was engaged?!  
_ Belle had a lot of explaining to do.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been a few minutes since the nurse had left the room, and a few more minutes since Belle’s father had left her bedside again, and the silence in the room seemed to paralyze them both. Eventually, Belle was the first to move, and he heard her bed creak as she got out of it and limped over to his side.  
“Did… did you hear all that?” she asked, her voice trembling and careful, though also rather innocent and he forbade himself to let it influence his thoughts.   
“It was hard to miss, _dearie_ ,” he bit back. “Couldn’t help but wonder why you wouldn’t tell me you were engaged _before_ you jerked me off.”  
His words felt like a slap to her face, and she stood paralyzed for a moment, but the next she grabbed his hand so firmly that he was unable to pull away from her – even though he tried at first.   
“Rumford, you need to listen to me,” she urged him seriously. “You don’t understand. It’s not… it’s not what you think it is.”  
“What, he’s _not_ your fiancée?” he replied bitterly, hoping with all his heart that it had all been a farce – something unreal – for all he wanted was to have her back in his arms that night – not to be her fuckbuddy while she was in this hospital alone, only to be tossed aside later on.  
“Please shut up and let me explain,” she continued, tears streaming down her face. “Please just listen.”   
She squeezed his hand, and he pinched his lips together, willing to give her a moment. He wanted to know what he had been to her, and he braced himself for the worst.   
“I’ve been lying.” She lowered her voice even more. “To everyone. To my father, to the doctors…”  
“To me,” he interrupted, and he heard her frustrated sigh.   
“Not as much as to the others though,” she continued. “And it’s complicated, just hear me out, alright?”  
As he nodded, she took a deep breath and continued.  
“My father has a gambling problem. A big one. So big, and so old, that it scared my mom away when I was five. They got a divorce and I grew up with my mom, who took care of me until she died when I was sixteen. Then I went to my father, who wasn’t doing too badly at that moment. He had been lucky for a few times, and he had a business – a flower shop – which didn’t go too badly. Still, my mother had always known about my father’s problems, and she had made sure that I’d have it well enough financially. What I inherited, in a way, was a good social security for the rest of my life, as well as some savings I would inherit the day I would marry – or if I’d turn 30 – whichever happens first.” She hoped she wasn’t overwhelming him, but so far, he didn’t seem particularly moved, and so she continued.   
“The past years, my father’s debt has increased, to several people – and some of them have threatened to hurt him – and even me – unless he would pay them soon. And he can’t. He just doesn’t have any money, and he lost his flower shop years ago. And I can’t support him either, not financially, I work at the library. Do you know how little I get paid? I can hardly support myself.” Tears streamed down her face as she told him this, but he still looked remarkably cold, and so she continued. “One day, a few months ago, father asked me if I would help him out to repay his debt, and he told me how some men wanted to kill him, and not wanting to lose my father too, I told him I’d help him in any way I could. And so – without my knowing – he struck up a deal with Gaston, the son of mister Molyneux.”  
This did spark some interest in mister Gold, and he said: “The owner of the sardine factory on the east side of the lake?”   
“The very same.”  
“He’s the richest man in town,” he admitted – and he hated saying that, especially considering the fact that he had tried so hard to steal that title – but had never succeeded.  
“Well. Long story short. Gaston promised to pay off _all_ of my father’s debts. For my hand in marriage.”  
Belle kept quiet and waited for his reaction. At first he did not move, but then, the reality started to sink in, and he turned his head towards her again, even if he could not see her, and she noticed how he was beginning to understand her point of view now.   
“So… he… he set you up to marry someone you don’t love?”  
She nodded as tears streamed down her face, and realizing he could not see that, she emotionally whispered: “Yes. And I hate him. I really do. He is the worst man I have ever met. He does not care about any of the things I like. All he wants me to be is a trophy wife, and he does not care about my father either.” She was sobbing now, though she was still trying to keep her voice down, because she would hate it if anyone would walk in on this. “The thing is, if I marry him, I throw my life away, and my father would be helped for now, but would fall back into the same addiction soon enough, and if I don’t marry him, then we won’t get the money either, and people might start to hurt my father. No matter what I choose, I can’t win.”   
Hearing her sobs, he could stand it no longer, and he sat up straighter to pull her against him, glad to find she embraced him tightly as he tried to offer her some comfort.   
“And so… the brain damage… The forgetting of your fiancée…” he began, but she finished it for him.   
“I made it all up. To get some extra time here. To think. To be safe from my father’s enemies. To come up with another plan – but I can’t think of anything.”   
“And…” He nervously held her in his arms, afraid of what she would answer. “And what am I to you, Belle?”  
He felt how she sobbed against his chest, and he stroked her hair in an effort to soothe her, and her gentle words warmed his heart.   
“You are a reason for me to live – not a reason for me to end my life. I threw myself down the stairs. I thought I was going to break so many bones… But instead, all I got were some bruises and a twisted ankle. And the concussion was very mild.”   
He held her as tightly as he could. “Don’t ever do that again, Belle,” he whispered emotionally. “Don’t hurt yourself to escape a difficult situation. You’ve got me now. You’re not alone in this.”  
Her crying grew a little louder, though not loud enough for anyone outside of the room to hear, and he embraced her with all his might, hoping he could help her fix her life. He hoped it wasn’t too late.


	10. Chapter 10

That night, she shared his bed again. They embraced and kissed and listened to the wind outside their window, but sexual satisfaction wasn’t on Rumford’s mind as he realized that she was still shaken, and all he wanted was for her to feel safe. It would have been wrong to expect more, and so they rested in each other’s arms for hours, sharing sweet kisses and words of comfort and affection with one another.   
“I’m so sorry to have bothered you with all of my problems,” she apologized. “Especially since you have your own. And because I had promised more pleasure for you tonight.”  
“Don’t worry about that,” he reassured her. “That’s the last thing I expect from you. And I’m not just saying that because you are emotional today – but that goes for _whenever_. If you don’t want to be intimate with me, you don’t have to be.” He touched her cheek and smiled, and he continued softly: “To be honest, it is still a mystery to me what happened yesterday night.”  
Surprised that he was so oblivious to how attractive he was, she chuckled and kissed his cheek.   
“You shouldn’t be so surprised… Yesterday night, I realized how lovely you were. And it aroused me,” she admitted. “And please do realize that this is rare, and that you should feel proud.”  
“Oh, I do feel proud,” he said with a smirk. “If this Gaston wants to marry you without actually knowing you, then I must have been very correct in assuming you are beautiful. To realize an old cripple like me could inspire such arousal in a beautiful and intelligent young woman like you is stunning, to say the least.”   
Another laugh escaped her mouth, and he closed hers with his own, kissing her for a few moments, before she broke the kiss and said: “You don’t seem to realize how sexy you are yourself. With your accent and your gorgeous hair – and your beautiful eyes.”  
“You’ve hardly seen my eyes,” he reminded her, and she poked him in the chest.   
“I know. I only saw them once, but they were beautiful. I still remember them.”  
They hugged each other tight for another moment, leaning their foreheads against one another and listening to the other one breathe. It was a calm and peaceful moment, and after some thinking, Belle sighed: “I’m still so sorry for dragging you into all this drama. I hope Gaston never learns of this. If he did, I’m not sure what he’d do to you. He’s incredibly possessive.”   
“Please don’t think of those things,” he said. “You don’t have to fear anything on my behalf. I can take care of myself.”  
Belle chuckled. “Says the man who was hit on the head with a baseball-bat. Still no memories returning to you about what happened precisely?”  
He had a small smile on his lips, appreciating her sense of humor, even if it was a little inappropriate at times.   
“No. I’m not sure if I’ll ever remember it, to be honest. Perhaps – if my sight returns to me – and I return home, my memories will be triggered by what I find there. I don’t know. Just guessing, really.”   
She squeezed his hand – something he had felt her do so many times during the past days, and something which he absolutely adored. It gave him strength.   
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out one day,” she whispered. “But in the meanwhile, there’s no rush. We’re safe now. We’re together.”   
He felt Belle hug him again, and his heart warmed by the gesture. It was a miracle to him how he had been able to survive for so long without any human touch. How had he been able to deny to himself that he craved contact like hers?   
Now that he had gotten to know Belle, he wondered if he could ever continue without her.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Rumford woke with a start, and hearing noises in the hallway, he gently shook Belle awake in his arms.   
“Belle,” he whispered. “I hear people. The nurses might be here any moment.”  
As she opened her eyes and noticed the morning light in the room, it only took her two seconds to realize what he meant, and she was out of his bed in a moment, limping to hers as quickly as she could and pulling up the blanket around her.   
Her own bed was cold and strange, and as she looked at Rumford, she wished she could see his eyes, just so she could see his expression.   
“Did you sleep well though?” she whispered, and as he turned his head towards her, she noticed the small smile on his lips, and it warmed her heart to see that.   
“Yes. Better than ever,” he replied gently. “And you?”  
“The bed was a bit small,” she joked, and as they both chuckled, a knock sounded on the door and the nurses came in, starting their usual ‘good morning’ routine as they served them breakfast. Belle noticed how Rumford asked the older nurse – a woman named Martha – to help him shave again that morning, and Martha accepted gracefully.   
By 10 AM, they were both ready for another day, dressed in yet another clean hospital shirt, his blue, hers yellow, and it seemed like they’d have the rest of the morning to themselves.   
Belle limped over to the door to close it, then took her book and headed to Rumford’s bed, joining him to read it to him.   
As he listened to her as she told him the last chapters of Jane Eyre, he grew very quiet and thoughtful, and when she finished it, he was quiet for a few moments longer, not noticing how her gaze had turned to him, expecting a reaction to the story now.   
“That was beautiful,” was the first thing he said, his voice gentle and even hopeful, and he continued: “But… am I wrong to see parallels with us? You are so much like Jane – and I see so much of myself in Rochester. A wrecked, haunting past, not to mention that he ends up partially blind, just like I might never recover from this.” He gestured to the bandage before his eyes, and pulled a disappointed face.  
“Don’t say that,” she urged him, grasping for his hand. “You might still.”  
“But if I don’t,” he continued stubbornly. “Then it might still be alright. As long as you’re by my side.”  
Belle grew quiet, realizing how serious he was about that.   
She still had no idea what her future looked like, but gods, did she want it to be as he imagined! If only she had the power to make it so.  
Noticing her silence, he squeezed the palm of her hand. “But… I’m not forcing you. It needs to be your choice, Belle. I would love it if you and I could continue to see each other after this – no pun intended… But in case… it’s not possible, then… then I’ll miss you.”   
She was still speechless, but silenced him with a kiss, putting the book on the bedside table as she leaned into his open arms, shifting her weight so she could sit on top of him.   
His hands eagerly searched for her waist, then wrapped around her back as he pulled her close once more, kissing her as well.   
“I would love to make this work,” she whispered. “Us, but… I don’t see how – not with my father and with Gaston…”  
“You can… you can come and live with me,” he offered hopefully. “You don’t ever have to hurt yourself in order to escape them again. Just come to me and I will keep you safe.”  
Just the fact that he was willing to take care of her and protect her melted her heart, and she found herself expressing her gratitude to him by kissing him, while her hand looked for his boxers, rubbing over his soft member, which only needed a few seconds to respond to that attention.   
He bit his lip as he noticed how hard he was getting for her, and moaned softly when her hand disappeared in his boxers, once more jerking him off.  
“You don’t have to,” he muttered, lifting his chin as he noticed his entire body tense in anticipation, and he enjoyed each and every kiss she placed in his neck, his arousal only growing because of it.   
She ignored his words, because all that mattered to her was that he would know how much she appreciated everything he was doing for her, and she slowly moved down, positioning her knees between his legs, pulling down his boxers a little as she brought her mouth to his belly, gently kissing the flesh of his stomach while his arousal was only a few inches from her lips.   
Realizing where this was heading to, Rumford suddenly sat up when he felt her tongue against the tip of his member, his cheeks flushed and his chest heaving in mild terror.   
“Belle, you _really_ don’t have to…”  
His tone of surprise was strange to Belle, but to Rumford this was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him. No woman had ever gone down on him – not even his wife, and when he felt Belle’s lips close around him, he lay down again and grasped for the sheets, panting unevenly.   
Noticing how her mouth started moving along his shaft, he gasped again, and when her hand started massaging his balls ever so gently at the same time, he felt like he was in heaven.   
“Gods, Belle,” he muttered, throwing his head back as he bit his lip. It felt amazing – incredible – and he certainly felt special to receive these attentions from her.   
Every now and then, she could taste a drip of cum on his tip, and she eagerly licked him clean each time, soon letting her hands join the movements of her lips, and she noticed how his breathing grew louder, and she knew that he would moan if he wasn’t actually trying to keep quiet.   
“Belle,” he muttered, his face red from excitement. “How can I ever repay you for this?”   
Leaving his arousal for what it was for a moment, she smiled and looked up at him. “Do not worry about that. I’m sure we’ll find a way.” She softly continued jerking him off as she added: “But for now, I want you to relax and enjoy yourself – nothing more.”  
“But are you enjoying yourself too?” he wondered, amazed that any woman would be willing to do this – especially for him – as he could not imagine it to be so great for her.   
She chuckled. “You underestimate how sexy you are and how great you taste. It would be my honor if you would let me continue – let me lick and suck you to an orgasm.”   
Those words alone caused his balls to tighten a little, and he nodded breathlessly, once more gasping as he felt her lips around his member, as she started to lick and suck him as though their lives depended on it – and in that moment, it almost felt like it did.   
He wasn’t sure what it was precisely that pushed him over the edge, whether it were those little moaning sounds she made, or the moment she rolled her tongue over his tip, or how the firm grip of her hand around him seemed to tell him just how desperately she wanted to make him come – but he gasped loudly, then whispered: “Belle – I’m… I’m coming… Belle!”  
He had said so as a warning – to give her the time to pull away from him, but he was shocked to suddenly feel how she wrapped her mouth around him even deeper than before, his cock brushing against the back of her throat, and that sensation made him release his load even more violently than he had imagined. He had to fight with all his might not to thrust into her even further.   
She hummed as she sucked him clean, gulping down all of his semen as though it was as delicious as the nectar of the Gods, and he found himself panting with his mouth open, unable to believe what had just happened, but rather certain that she was either an angel or a succubus – one he would join to the afterlife if that was what she wanted.   
While he was still sensitive, he felt how she gently licked him clean and placed soft kisses all over his member, even while he was soft again, and as she gently tucked him away inside his boxers, she moved over him again, sitting on his hips as she let her fingers entwine with his on either side of his head.   
“Belle,” he muttered, feeling completely spent. “That… that was amazing…”  
He felt her body tremble on top of his as she chuckled for a few moments, and sighed lovingly as he felt how she started kissing his neck again. His entire body seemed so sensitive right now, yet relaxed at the same time, and each of her touches was more welcome than the one before.   
“I’ve always wanted to try that,” she admitted, and even underneath the bandage he knew that his eyes flew open at those words, even if he could not see a thing.  
“Wait, what?” He sounded rather shocked. “Was… was this your first time?”  
“A-ha,” she admitted, and she smiled as she saw how his mouth dropped.  
“How? How did you… How did you know how to…?”  
Noticing his bewilderment, she gladly told him: “I read up on it. A lot. You’d be surprised how many tips and tricks you’d find online about these sorts of things.”  
He laughed gently. “Still, that was amazing, Belle. I’ve never come this way before – I didn’t think I’d be able to, but… you were amazing. Wasn’t it… didn’t it taste bad though? It can’t have been very nice…”  
She shrugged. “It wasn’t a bad taste per se. Just an unusual one. A little salty, I guess, but… Towards the end of it, when you were coming, I made sure to gulp it all down before I could taste it. It didn’t really pass by my tongue, so it didn’t go by my taste buds, and so I didn’t really get the taste of it at that moment.”   
“And now?” he wondered. “Do you taste it now?”  
“Yeah, a little bit,” she admitted. “It’s a strange taste, but as I said before, it’s not like it’s disgusting, just strange. Feels a bit as though my tongue is asleep now.”  
He squeezed her hands and smiled. “Well after all the work you put into that, I’m surprised you can still talk at all.”   
As she sweetly brought her lips to his, he returned the kiss, the taste on her lips betraying how he had tasted indeed, and though he was not too fond of that taste, he imagined it was not the worst thing in the world either.   
“Tonight,” he promised. “Tonight, I’ll spoil you as well. I don’t know how I’ll do it yet, but tonight I’m going to make you see the stars. That’s a promise.”   
Belle bit her lip, already looking forward to it, and as she leaned down to kiss him, he wrapped his arms around her, determined to keep her in his life – no matter what it took. 


	12. Chapter 12

If one thing had to be said, then it was that mister Gold was a man of his word. He had promised to make Belle see the stars that night, and as everyone else was asleep, he found himself on his knees between her legs as she lay in his bed, whimpering as he was bringing her to yet another orgasm.   
“Rumford,” she moaned softly, mindful to keep her voice down. “Rumford, please… Oh Gods…”  
As he flicked his tongue around her clit as quickly as he could, his fingers penetrating her in steady thrusts, he felt her walls clench around him for the third time that night, and Belle’s soft moans were like music to his ears.  
As she panted and felt completely spent, he gently licked her clean once more, before he crawled up, looking for her face with his hand, and leaning in for a kiss which she would have returned more properly if she wasn’t so exhausted.   
“Amazing,” she muttered. “Incredible… Rumford… You… You brilliant.”  
The lack of verbs in that sentence was amusing to him – it was a testament to how utterly satisfied he had left her. It was exactly what he needed to hear. He felt prouder than ever. Even without sight, he had found a purpose in his life, and as he wrapped her in his arms, he turned her to her side, laying down right next to her, their foreheads touching.   
“Belle,” he started in a gentle tone. “I… I’ve been thinking…”  
She held her breath as she waited for him to continue, and she saw how he nervously licked his lips.   
It took him a while to gather the courage to continue, and when he did, he spoke rather nervously.  
“I want you to come and live with me, and… well… last time I brought that up, you eh… you distracted me.”  
It was an understatement. She had given him the most amazing blowjob in the world, and all plotting had been forgotten. But now he wanted to give it another shot, for he feared that he would lose her forever if he let her leave the hospital without a plan that involved the two of them – spending more time together.  
“I would love to live with you,” she admitted, gently putting her hand on his waist underneath the blanket they shared. “But I don’t see _how_ it can work… Father still expects me to marry Gaston.”  
“Then we get Gaston out of the equation,” Rumford continued in a determined tone. “We need to talk to your father. I have a plan. And I think that – if you hear me out – it will work.”

 

It took Belle’s father a few more days to visit his daughter again, and this time, Belle did not pretend to be asleep. Instead, she was wide awake in her bed. The curtain between herself and Rumford was open, so that when her father entered the room and saw the man with the bandage around his eyes, he was a little taken aback.  
“Hello,” he greeted Belle distractedly, not taking his eyes of mister Gold. “I did not know you had a roommate.”   
“He was here last time too,” Belle said casually, not really smiling, since she did not think there was anything to smile about.   
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister French,” Rumford spoke in a formal tone, his hands folded in his lap as though nothing was strange about this.  
Moe French was confused though, and he did not know what to say for a few moments and sat down in the chair by his daughter’s bedside.  
“I spoke with Gaston the other day,” he eventually said, ignoring mister Gold and focusing on Belle instead. “He is willing to come to the hospital, to visit you, just to help you remember him.”   
A little insulted that her father ignored Rumford like that, Belle folded her arms over one another.   
“There won’t be any need for that. I remember him. All of him. And all of this deal you made with him too.”   
Her tone was defiant, and Moe frowned, wondering what was going on.  
“And I am willing to bid higher,” Rumford spoke up, turning his head in the direction of Belle and Mister French, even if he could not see them. “I will pay you the money you need to pay off your loans, and in return your daughter will become my caretaker once I leave this hospital.”  
“There is only one other condition,” Belle added, and Moe was completely speechless, not knowing what to think of this. Belle’s last words didn’t even sink in, that was how distracted he was by what Rumford had said.  
“You will pay off all of my loans?” he repeated weakly, wondering who this man was.   
“My name is Rumford Gold,” he introduced himself more formally. “I own most of the buildings in Storybrooke, as you may or may not know.”   
Belle’s father stared at the man with an open mouth, only now realizing that the man wasn’t bluffing about anything. Mister Gold was one of the richest men in Storybrooke indeed. Though they had never met before, his reputation proceeded him.   
“What is the other condition?” Moe French asked weakly, a little wary of what they might have come up with.   
“Several conditions, actually,” Rumford continued. “First off – you will never force Belle to marry anyone. Ever. Again. Her life will always remain hers from now on, and you will not ask her to cover for your mistakes anymore.”  
It was quiet for a few moments, and then something happened that surprised both Belle and Rumford. Moe sobbed for a moment and then started crying, but he did not object or respond in a way that showed him as offended. He knew he had been wrong and was flooded with guilt. It was just very unusual to see in him, since he always kept those emotions locked up.  
“And then the second condition…” Rumford continued slowly – almost compassionately. “You will go to a clinic. A place where they will help you deal with your addiction. You will undergo therapy so that you don’t make the same mistakes twice.”  
“I can’t afford such a thing,” mister French said weakly, but Rumford was quick to respond.  
“And because of that, I will. And I expect you to behave and to do your very best to become the father Belle deserves.”  
Mister French was too moved to respond with words, and as he continued crying, Belle limped out of bed and sat down on his lap, hugging him tight.   
“It’s going to be alright, papa,” she assured him. “We’ll help you deal with this. We’ll get over this, I promise.”


	13. Chapter 13

It was not difficult to notice that a weight had fallen off Belle’s shoulders that afternoon. Once her father had left, she had been more cheerful than ever before, and she had shown her appreciation for everything Rumford had done so far by hugging him whenever she could.   
Her hugs truly were surprise hugs, since he could not see them coming, but they were appreciated none the less.   
After dinner, Belle went for a short walk in the hallways and Rumford went to freshen up in the bathroom. When Belle returned, she closed the door behind her and immediately went to his bed, sitting on its edge and taking his hand.   
“I got you a surprise,” she said with a wicked undertone in her voice, and he was intrigued as he felt her open his hand and put something inside.   
For a moment, he figured that it was some sort of plastic wrapper – some candy – but as he felt something very thin and round inside, he gulped nervously.   
“A… a condom?” he asked, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks – at the same time that other things were starting to rise as well.   
She chuckled. “I thought that perhaps… if you’re up for it later…”  
His face was completely red as he replied: “Belle… I’m already completely up for it now. Quite literally.”   
She chuckled as she let her eyes wander to his crotch and noticed he wasn’t making that up.   
“Well, for later,” she insisted. “After midnight. Just to make sure, you know.”  
Rumford grinned. “Understood. I guess I can wait that long. But where did you get the condom?”  
“There is actually a condom vending machine on the ground floor – close to the ER. Not sure why, but I suppose it’s a logical place to promote safe sex?”   
She wasn’t sure if she saw the logic in that herself, and so she shrugged.   
“I got two, actually. Just in case it rips or something while we try to put it on. Better safe than sorry.”  
He was turning quite nervous just from hearing her talk about that. She seemed so into the idea, even if they had hardly known each other for a week, and talked about it as though it was the most normal thing in the world.   
Perhaps it was, or perhaps he was old-fashioned. Realizing he had been very quiet for the past minute, he suddenly said: “I believe I still have a condom in my wallet.”  
He gestured towards where he knew his wallet was, and Belle headed to it, offering it to him, but he gently pushed the wallet back in her hands. “If you open it, it’s somewhere underneath my driver’s license, I believe.”  
Belle opened his wallet and noticed an old picture of a young boy. He had Rumford’s eyes, and she realized that it was the son he had lost so long ago. She carefully looked through his wallet and found the condom he had mentioned, trying to make out the expiration date on its back.   
Frowning, she noted: “Rumford, this thing has been expired for the past seven years.”   
He gulped nervously, not realizing how bad that had to seem to her. “Oh, eh… I forgot those things have expiration dates…”   
A million questions popped up in her mind, and she did not leave his side as she asked: “Then when was the last time you had sex?”  
Feeling like an idiot, the way he was now submitted to all of her questions and unable to see her reaction to his answers, his entire face turned red once more.   
“Let’s just say that condoms weren’t something they talked about that much when I was still sexually active. And I was married then – it was different.”  
Figuring that his son had died over a decade ago, that probably meant that he had been sexually inactive for at least as long.   
“Well… If it makes you feel any better,” she started softly. “I haven’t been sexually active either during those years.”   
Rumford frowned, wondering what she meant precisely. She was so young – if she had not been sexually active then, did that mean…  
“You’re still a virgin?” he blurted out, quite surprised by this.   
She chuckled. “That’s one way to put it, yes.”  
Noticing how he paled by that news, she wondered why he responded in that way.  
“Is that a problem?” she wondered, and he nervously scratched his chin.   
“Well, eh… I’m just afraid I won’t be able to live up to your expectations – not to mention that a first time is often painful for a woman, and I’d hate to put you through pain, Belle.”   
She took his hand in hers and squeezed it in a reassuring way. “Please don’t worry about that. I may be a virgin, but that does not mean I’ve never been penetrated or anything. I wouldn’t worry about me being in pain. Let’s just say I’ve been practicing.”  
She was so open about this – so relaxed – that he could not help but feel a little more at ease. She would not lie about that. But still, imagining her exploring her own body only made him more aroused, and as he kept a firm hold of her hand, he pulled her nearer.   
“Please kiss me,” he mumbled, unable to wait any longer, and she leaned into him, surprised by how fiercely he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss.   
She pulled away from him after a few moments, realizing he was far too excited by her kisses and would be unable to contain himself until midnight if they kept this up. Trying to figure out what to do, she suddenly took his hands and tried to pull him out of the bed.   
“Come with me,” she whispered, and as he obeyed her – his hard-on very visible underneath his hospital shirt – she pulled him towards the little bathroom, closing the door behind them. “If anyone comes in asking for me, I’m not here, understood?” she whispered, and he nodded quickly, his mind racing as he tried to imagine what she had brought him there for. He was soon given an answer when she kissed him again, her hunger for a human touch almost as bad as his own, and their hands could not be contained. He grabbed her ass, pulled her against him, or moved his hands under her hospital shirt to feel her boobs, while she touched his chest, his back, and eventually his dick. He could not help but gasp, and when he noticed how she went through her knees, he knew what was coming.   
He bit his lip as she wrapped her warm lips around his cock, and had to try his hardest not to thrust himself into her mouth as she once more tried to bring him to his release. He noticed how she tried to go deeper than before, and his breathing was uneven as he held onto the lavatory behind him, loving every little lick and kiss she bestowed upon his member. But the moments where she tried to take all of him inside of her mouth were the ones where he realized that his Belle only wanted to please – and was coming very close to doing just that.   
Because he was unable to see her, he looked for her face, first putting his hand on her head, then softly trailing a fingertip to her cheek, whispering: “You’re amazing, Belle…” He gasped as she used that exact moment to once more take him as deeply as she could, and soon found himself panting, completely at a loss for words as she was beginning to speed up her movements.   
“I’m gonna come,” he whispered, moaning softly when it eventually happened, Belle’s warm tongue and lips wrapped around him as he slowly grew softer in her mouth.   
She was gulping it all away again, and by the time she got up from her knees, he immediately pulled her against him.   
“You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met,” he whispered, careful not to let anyone hear them. His breathing was still heavy, and though he was tired, he wanted to return the favor to Belle. As he kissed her, he started undressing her, tossing her hospital blouse to the side, as well as the white undershirt she wore underneath. He kissed her neck and moved his mouth to her nipples, flicking his tongue around them while he felt hungry for even more. As his hands moved to the hem of her leggings, he pulled those down, leaving her bum bare for him to touch and squeeze. And while he did just that, he felt how Belle arched her back, her breasts brushing against his chest.  
“Your hands are amazing,” she whispered, her cheeks flushed as she closed her eyes to enjoy each little sensation.    
When he took her by her waist and turned her around, she gasped, and she kept her eyes shut, finding it more exciting to feel what he was doing rather than seeing it, and she bit her lip as he massaged her breasts, then moved one hand over her belly, causing Belle to moan softly because she knew what was coming.   
“Keep it down, sweetheart,” he whispered in her ear, his breath hot on her skin, and she nodded in agreement, realizing that any nurse could come into their room at any moment, and hear what they were doing in the small bathroom.   
Luckily, it didn’t kill Belle’s mood to think of that, and when Rumford’s hand moved between her legs, it was already completely forgotten. She moaned again as he let his fingers slide further down her slit, and gasped when he started rubbing her clit.   
She sank into him, feeling the need to open her legs for him, and she stepped out of her leggings and lifted one leg onto the sink, leaning on her good leg as he continued to touch her, trying to learn each secret of her body. He placed kisses in her neck while one hand played with her breasts and the other tried to bring her to her release, and he enjoyed each of her soft pants and moans, wondering what noises she would make if they would do this in a private place. Just the thought of his Belle crying out in pleasure for him sent a shiver down his spine and made his balls tighten. He could not wait to experience that in their own home.   
_Their_ home. Even though Belle had never set a foot in his house, he was already looking forward to sharing it with her. As far as he was considered, it was already her home.  
When Belle eventually came, his hand was slick and a little cramped up, and while she was panting in front of him, he continued to kiss her neck and massage her breasts. She soon turned around again, her lips seeking his, and he mumbled: “You’re amazing, Belle.”   
“Not as amazing as you are,” she whispered. “I can’t wait for tonight.”  
“Neither can I,” he admitted with a naughty smile. “But I will.”  
He continued touching his amazing lover, squeezing her bum and breasts and noticing how her kisses grew hotter because of it, but eventually they realized they could not stay in the bathroom indefinitely, and so Rumford left while Belle took another shower. He would make sure he’d wash up too before the great night arrived. 


	14. Chapter 14

The evening seemed to pass slower than usual, and while they were waiting in agony for everyone to go to sleep, Belle sat on Rumford’s bed, both of them listening to the music on Belle’s mp3-player.  
It was a bit of a strange mix, though Rumford couldn’t say he disliked her taste in music. There was some classical music on there by Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saens, as well as songs by old crooners like Frank Sinatra. Then there was the modern music by artists he had never heard off – many of them female singer-songwriters who – according to Belle – hardly sold any records because they hardly got airtime – something she seemed rather frustrated about since she identified so well with the poetic and intelligent lyrics.   
It was hard to keep their hands off one another while they were so close, but somehow they managed, and the both of them startled when the door suddenly opened after a brief knock on the door and nurse Martha walked in. She stared at the two of them as they lay in the same bed, completely surprised for a moment, and without missing a beat, Belle lifted her mp3 player and said: “I’m introducing him to some new music.”  
The older nurse quickly dropped the look of surprise and said: “Just wanted to let you know that doctor Whale will drop by tomorrow around noon – to take off your bandage, mister Gold.”  
“Ah… Thank you for letting me know, Martha,” he said gratefully, though he was blushing a little because he’d been caught sitting so snugly with Belle in his bed.   
“Let me know if you need anything,” Martha added.  
“I think we’ll manage,” Belle said softly, and as Rumford nodded in agreement, Martha bade them a good night and left the room again.   
Belle soon got up to turn off the lights – at least creating the illusion that they were both asleep to anyone who would come in to check up on them, but she returned to Rumford’s bed, entering his warm arms as he held her by his side.   
“Not long now,” she whispered, and she beheld the grin on his lips with an excited feeling in her stomach.   
“No second thoughts?” he asked as he gently caressed her cheek with his fingertips.   
“None,” she replied without hesitation. “We don’t know when we’ll be dismissed, so I don’t want to sit here in agony for much longer. I don’t want to spend another day regretting things that might have been.”   
He knew what that felt like, and kissed her forehead.  
“I would not mind waiting until I’d be able to make your first time more special,” he said softly, hoping she would not come to regret this at a later point.   
“I don’t think first times are _that_ important,” she replied honestly. “They’re overrated. I mean… what is the point of setting the bar so high for a first time, and then never trying to match or surpass that? I’d rather have us start like this and just… get better in time, than you overwhelming me with the most perfect night ever, and then never living up to that again.”   
He chuckled. He had never looked at it that way, and was surprised how much Belle had thought some things through.   
“So I’ll get a chance to spoil you even more at a later time?” he asked in an amused tone, and Belle chuckled as well.   
“Yes. Now that you put it like that, I won’t be pleased if you don’t.”  
They both chuckled as they lay in each other’s arms, and as Rumford looked for Belle’s lips, she gladly met his. They spent a great deal of time kissing, listening to the sounds in the hallway while they did so, and once midnight had past, Belle helped Rumford out of his clothes, putting them on a chair next to the bed, not missing the fact that he already had a hard-on for her.   
As she removed her own clothes next, she also noticed how all the kissing had left her rather wet already, and she put her own clothes on her own chair before she returned to Rumford’s arms.   
“You’re cold,” he whispered, warming her up by rubbing his arms all over her back and holding her close, and she found the gesture to be very sweet.   
As he warmed her up and they resumed their kissing, Belle soon found that his member was rather wet as it rubbed against her belly, and she licked her lips before she whispered: “You’re wet.”  
He chuckled and replied: “I hope that you are too…”  
“Why don’t you touch me to find out?” she invited him, and he could practically hear the naughty tone in her voice, driving him even wilder for her than he already was.  
He brought his hand down there and felt her suck in some air as he let his fingers stroke alongside her clit. She was wet for him already, and as she seemed to bring her clit closer to his hand instead of the other way around, he chuckled because of it.   
“Feeling a little desperate for my touch?” he whispered, his insides screaming in excitement. She was so eager – so excited for him – it was unlike anything he’d experienced before and he didn’t want to wait another night. He wanted to make her his – to fuck her until she came completely undone – to hear her moan and gasp in delight – to kiss her all over and have her pull his hair as she came in his arms. But one thought stood out above all others: he wanted to see her. He wanted to see this angel or succubus that had decided he was worth her time and her virginity.   
Without telling her anything, he brought his hands up to the bandage around his head and started to undo it, causing Belle to startle for a moment.   
“What are you doing?” she whispered.  
“Taking off these bloody bandages. I want to see you, Belle,” he replied just as quietly, though there was a desperation in his tone that took Belle’s breath away.   
Soon her hands were trying to gather all of the bandage as it dropped down his shoulder, and when the bandage was finally off, she breathed in some air, looking at him with his eyes closed, little wrinkles and marks on his face from where the bandage had been tied too tightly. She brought her lips to his eyes and gently kissed them, noticing how he smiled as she pulled away again.   
His arms were firmly wrapped around her by the time he slowly opened his eyes, and Belle bit her lip as she waited for a sign that he could see her, even in the darkness of their hospital room. But at least the curtain was still open, and a full moon shone in, and it illuminated the room perfectly.  
At first, his gaze seemed dazed, not really focusing on anything as his eyes trembled in fear. Then, he slowly moved towards her face, and his eyes seemed to focus. First on her lips, then on her nose and eventually on her eyes.   
As she slowly started smiling, she saw that he did too, and when he whispered: “You’re so beautiful”, she felt her heart explode from happiness. He could see her! He wasn’t going to end up blind after all!  
Soon her eyes were closed again as she kissed him as passionately as she could, and feeling how he pulled her tightly against him reminded her of his throbbing arousal against her stomach.   
“Everything alright?” she asked, just to make sure before they’d head any further. “No headaches or dizziness or blurriness or anything of the sort?”  
“I’m perfectly fine, _doctor_ ,” he replied playfully, taking a firm hold of her body before he moved her below him on the bed. As he hovered over her, he looked down upon her beautiful body and bit his lip as he did so. “You’re so hot,” he added, moving his lips down to bestow kisses upon her breasts for a few moments, admiring the perfect shape of her hardened nipples before he licked them, causing Belle to bite her lip in return.   
She reached for the condom they had left on the table beside the bed, the movement as she reached out for it alerting Rumford of her plan, and he sat on top of her with his knees besides her as she unwrapped it, then offered to put it on for him.   
He watched her hands as they rolled down the condom for him. It didn’t go as easily as she had planned at first, and she had to tighten her grip on his member as she rolled it down, something which only deepened his arousal and caused him to let out a few heavy breaths as he tried not to come already. As he looked up at her face and saw the blush on her cheeks and the way she bit her lip, he was glad that he had decided to take off the bandage before his eyes. He wouldn’t have wanted to miss this sight for anything in the world.   
Soon he was on top of her again, stealing hungry kisses and caressing her face and hair, drowning in the sight of her beauty. He was not oblivious to the way she wrapped her legs around him, or to the way she reached out for his member, trying to direct him towards her entrance.   
“Sweetheart,” he whispered as he touched her cheek and looked into her beautiful blue eyes. “Are you sure?”  
When he saw the need in her eyes as she nodded affirmatively, he gulped away his own insecurities, and as he positioned his erection in front of her entrance, he made sure to keep an eye on her expression as he slowly pushed himself inside her.   
Her mouth dropped a little and her breathing sped up for a while, but her eyes did not betray pain – only arousal. When he felt how wet she was for him and how easy it was to slide in, he pulled halfway out again, noticing her smile as he picked a slow pace to have her get used to the sensation.   
Her breaths became soft moans of approvals, and she let her hands get lost in his hair, softly massaging his scalp while his thrusts became a little deeper, suddenly causing her to gasp in surprise when he thrust deeper than he had before.   
His heart skipped a beat as he feared he had hurt her, and he gently caressed her face: “Are you in pain?” he whispered, afraid he was going to drive her away if he hurt her, and he did not immediately believe her when she shook her head.   
“No, no, I’m not, Rumford,” she assured him, her cheeks so red that she seemed to be glowing. “That was… that felt incredibly _good_. Do it again.”   
He was a little hesitant at first, but unable to disobey his beautiful lover, he pushed himself inside of her again, feeling how incredibly tight she was all around him, and how warm and sexy it felt for him at the same time. Perhaps the greatest joy was the one he got from watching her expression. The way her mouth opened in ecstasy and the way she bit her lip in longing when he pulled out of her, it did things to him that were difficult to describe. All he knew was that he wanted to see that devotion and arousal in her expression as long as he could, and he continued his slow teasing a dozen times over, watching her all the while, not realizing that she was studying his expressions just the same.   
“Does that feel good to you?” she asked after a while in between her soft panting, and it felt so amazing that he was hardly able to form a sentence as a reply. He nodded, moving his lips to hers to convey by kiss how sexy he thought she was. He soon penetrated her lips with his tongue and was glad she greeted him with hers in response. He held her by her sides while she held onto his shoulders and he tried to deepen his thrusts, only to notice she was suddenly beginning to rock her hips in unison with his, deepening the penetration because of it. They both gasped at the same time, then shared a brief smile as they realized they were quite in sync about this.   
He was careful not to go too fast, knowing it would lead to the end of their time together, and so he treasured each slow thrust and the way she arched her back in response.   
“Rumford,” she whispered, her voice a little hoarse from arousal. “Let’s try some other positions.”  
The fact that she spoke of that in its plural form meant that she had no intention to end this just yet, and he gladly indulged her.  
“Anything you’d like to try?” he offered, slowly sliding out of her and grabbing his dick to softly rub it against her clit, and he grinned as she closed her eyes in arousal, throwing her head back as she enjoyed the sensation.   
“Yes!” she whispered. “Everything! Anything!”  
As he got up to his knees, he flipped her over as though she hardly weighed anything, and as her hands rested besides her head, he tangled his fingers with hers for a moment, kissing her neck and her shoulders before he brought one hand to her bum and squeezed her buttocks.   
“Keep your legs closed,” he instructed her in her ear, and she nodded as she felt him push against her entrance once more. She gasped as he slid his way in, then slowly started to repeat his earlier thrusts, immediately noticing that the sensation was very different from before.   
“Feels so tight,” she whispered, her eyes closed as she felt him thrust in rather gently for a few times.   
“Not painful, I hope?” he asked, just making sure, and he was relieved to see her shake her head. He thrust in a little harder, taking pleasure from the way she gasped, then turned her head a little to smile at him.   
“Do it again,” she encouraged him, and he gladly was her obedient slave, following it up with several fast thrusts that suddenly caused her to moan so loudly that he put her hand in front of her mouth, then held still in the fear that anyone had heard them.   
They both listened for any sounds in the hallway, and only relaxed when they realized no one had heard them.  
“Belle!” he whispered as he released his hand from her mouth again, scolding her for being so loud. “Careful!”  
“That felt a little too good,” she apologized, moving so that he slid out of her again and she turned around underneath him, looking at him with a bit of a guilty expression. “I like it when you go fast.”  
He chuckled. His little Belle was absolutely delightful – and such a devious partner to have. She truly had the power to drive him wild, and he knew that if he would have continued those thrusts for half a minute longer, he would have come then and there.   
“Turn to your side then,” he instructed her, and as she gladly obeyed him, he lay next to her, staring into her eyes as he pulled her leg over his bum, then tried to enter her once more. It wasn’t as easy as before, and he spotted Belle looking at him with a cheeky smile as she bit her lip.   
“Perhaps you could help out?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, and as she took his member in her hand, she slowly jerked him off, teasing him relentlessly while she maintained eye contact with him, before she eventually guided him inside.  
“Does that feel good?” he asked as he thrust inside of her a few times, immediately going as deep as he could, and Belle’s facial expression did not disappoint him.   
She nodded breathlessly as he continued his slow thrusts, and the way she had her eyes closed betrayed how much she enjoyed it. Soon his hand was between her legs as well, gently teasing her slick clit in an effort to make her come. She grinned as she realized what he was trying to do and asked: “Shouldn’t we try and come together?”  
He could not stop his slow chuckling. “A miscalculation on my behalf could result in me coming before you do, my sweet. I’d rather not take that risk. Besides, you are physically capable of coming several times in a night – me, I’m only rarely that lucky.”   
Even if she saw the truth in those words, she still took his hand and removed it from its former position, entwining their fingers as they continued their lovemaking. Their bodies weren’t just wet with desire, but were slowly beginning to transpire from all the exercise as well, and when Belle moved to sit on top of him, Rumford doubted he had ever seen anything as beautiful as her naked form, glistening in the moonlight as she tried to position herself on top of him. When she slid over him, he nearly doubled up from surprise at the speed with which she did it, and he found himself clutching to her waist in order to support himself.   
“Belle!” he gasped, his eyes only half-open as he watched her rock her hips against his, biting her lip and moaning softly as the full weight of her body against his caused her slit to rub against his underbelly. Though her movements were slow, they were incredibly deep at the same time, and when he rocked his hips against hers too, he noticed that she was beginning to lose control. He sped up the movements, keeping a careful eye on his angel to pinpoint the exact moment she would come undone, and the moment it happened and he felt her walls clench all around him, he sat up and held her, thrusting a few more times inside of her, causing her to moan louder than before as the bed creaked from the weight of what they were doing.   
His breathing sped up as he tried to thrust himself to his own release, and Belle’s irregular breathing only grew louder – as did his – and though he knew it wasn’t wise, he also felt like there was nothing he could do to stop him from continuing this and from spilling all his seeds inside of her.   
“Belle,” he muttered. “Belle, I want to come.”  
“Then come,” she replied in a whisper, her voice sounding as though she was completely spent. “Fuck me and come, Rumford. I want you to.”  
He did as she said, and instead of the slow lovemaking of before, his movements grew faster and more erratic. She was moaning as he fucked her, trying her hardest to fuck him in return, to meet him whenever he thrust inside, to hold him and squeeze him as tightly as he did her. When he finally felt the moment approach, he could not contain it.   
“I’m coming,” he rasped hoarsely. “Belle… Belle! Ah!”  
A few more thrusts and after he exploded inside her, the speed and force with which he had tried to reach his release stopped and he grew weaker in her arms again, feeling himself grow soft inside of her, basking in her warmth and kisses until they both startled in each other’s arms.   
The door was thrown open and the lights were turned on. Belle and Rumford turned their head towards the door simultaneously, their eyes large as they looked at doctor Whale and Martha, whose mouths seemed to have dropped onto their chests in that moment.   
As Rumford still had his arms around Belle, most of her naked body was shielded from view, and they only held closer to one another at this exposure.   
Noticing how doctor Whale frowned as he noticed Rumford was no longer wearing the bandage around his head, Rumford cleared his throat and said: “I think I’m feeling much better now, doctor.” 


	15. Chapter 15

Storybrooke hospital had never had a sex scandal before – and though doctor Whale and Martha did not say a word of what they had seen that night to any press, it did not take long for all of the hospital staff to talk about what had gone on between Rumford Gold and Belle French that night. It was a mystery to some how the young woman had fallen for the older patient. Some suspected some cash was involved, others pointed out the virility of the older man, as well as his beautiful hair as an explanation for the strange behavior of the girl – but none of them really seemed to grasp that these two had been meant for each other long before their lives had begun – and they could not predict for how much longer these soulmates would stay together.   
“It looked quite hot, to be honest,” Martha admitted to the younger nurse who worked at the reception. “I am telling you – they were both completely satisfied, their bodies glistening with sweat. Like something from a romance novel, holding onto each other so tightly.”  
The younger nurse giggled, and both of the ladies jumped when a heavy man’s voice boomed behind them. “I need to know in which room Belle French is located.”   
As the women turned around and saw a tall man with no sense of humor or manners in front of their reception desk, they were a little confused.   
“Visiting hours aren’t until later this afternoon,” Martha informed him. “But if you want to see Miss French, she is getting her discharge as we speak. You might as well visit her at home soon enough.”  
The man frowned, clearly not happy with that answer. “I wish to visit her in her room. Now.”   
“Sir, that’s not possible,” the younger nurse chimed in. “She is leaving soon.”  
Martha frowned. She wondered who this man was and why it was so urgent. Perhaps she could hear him out and ask Belle if she wanted to speak to him. “I can go and ask her if she can come here, perhaps. May I ask who you are?”  
The man seemed annoyed by the question, and only replied after he had expressed his annoyance in a deep and long sigh. “I am Gaston Molyneux – her fiancée.”  
Martha and the young nurse froze for a moment, trying to figure out where this added up to in the story of Belle French and Rumford Gold having the most incredibly sex that night, and they reasoned that there was no explanation for the oddness of the situation – not yet, anyway.   
Martha disappeared to find Belle, who was already fully dressed in her hospital room, apparently helping mister Gold put on his tie, and as she saw how incredibly affectionate the two of them were with one another, it made even less sense that a man had just announced himself as Belle’s fiancée.  
“Miss French,” Martha interrupted them, noticing the blush on their cheeks as they looked at the nurse that had burst in that night. “I’m afraid a man is at the reception for you. Gaston Molyneux, I believe his name was?”   
Belle and Rumford exchanged a glance with one another, and it did not go unnoticed to Martha how mister Gold grabbed Belle’s hand and squeezed it affectionately. Belle returned the squeeze and followed Martha, still limping a little, but able to walk without any further aid.   
“Martha,” Belle said softly as they headed to the reception. “I would like you to stay near. Just in case.”   
Curious about the reason behind this, Martha nodded. “I will,” she promised.   
As Gaston saw Belle, he straightened his back and met her halfway.   
“I heard you did not remember me,” Gaston said matter-of-factly. “I have come to refresh your memory.”   
Belle raised her hand as a signal for him to stop – not that he would have said much more – he wasn’t a man of many words.   
“I do, Gaston,” she said honestly. “I remember you.”   
“Good!” Gaston said, a smug smile on his face. “Then you also remember our engagement?”   
“Yes,” she replied with an indifferent expression. “And I’d like to call it off. Especially considering the fact that it was an engagement that hardly had my consent.”   
At those words, she saw Gaston’s mouth drop and his brow furrow, and Martha tensed up as well, looking at Gaston as though she could sense an explosion forming. But Gaston was too flabbergasted to say anything. His brain was only slowly processing the news.   
“But your father assured me that…”  
“My father does not decide my fate,” Belle interrupted sternly. “I do. And I will only marry a man I love – not a man that makes a deal with my addicted father to exchange my life for some cash. I’m not marrying you, Gaston. Not now, not ever. And my father won’t need your money either. We’ve found another solution to that problem.”   
Seeing how Gaston was still at a lack for words, she added: “Besides, you were never my type. Goodbye, Gaston.”   
Belle turned around, fearing that if she stayed a moment longer, things would get too awkward. At the end of the corridor, she saw that Rumford was waiting for her. Apparently he had been watching her with a proud smile on his face, and she smiled in return as she headed in his direction.  
As Gaston looked at her leave, Martha grinned.   
“Well then, mister Molyneux,” she said with a sly smile. “I shall have to ask you to leave the hospital now… Unless you’d first like me to apply some ointment to that burn?”


	16. Chapter 16

**One year later…**

“Well, if you really want to know why it took so long for me to ask you on a date… Let’s just say that I needed some convincing…”  
“How so?”  
Doctor Whale scratched the back of his head for a moment and looked around suspiciously in the crowded restaurant. It had taken a lot of courage to ask Ruby out, but not all of Storybrooke needed to know that. He admitted sheepishly: “Well, for one, we are thirteen years apart.”  
As a waiter came to offer them the menus, Ruby took hers but did not open it yet, instead she looked at the nervous doctor as he sat opposite her.  
“And why did that bother you? Did you fear I was a child?” She was teasing him, and she loved to see him blush.  
“Well… Not exactly. Let’s just say that I valued the opinion of other people over my own happiness.”  
Ruby could not hide her smile. She was glad that he had finally gathered the nerve to ask her out. And so far, the date was not disappointing her. Not many guys had enough class to take her to the fanciest restaurant in Storybrooke – some even thought that going to Granny’s with her could be considered a ‘successful date’ – how stupid Ruby always found men like that…  
“Where did you find the courage to ask me out then?” she asked curiously.  
As he looked around them in the crowded restaurant and pointed quickly and discretely to a corner of the room, Ruby turned to see Belle French and Rumford Gold sitting in their usual spot, chatting softly, smiling and holding hands and looking like the happiest people in Storybrooke.  
It only endeared Ruby more to learn that doctor Whale had been inspired by them, and she grinned.  
“They are so lovely together,” she admitted. “They come in for hamburgers and iced tea at least twice a month at Granny’s. They never really went out much before they found each other though.”  
Doctor Whale smirked, remembering that faithful night that he had caught the pair naked in each other’s arms. He feared it was an image he would never be able to forget – but perhaps he didn’t completely want to either.  
“Weren’t you in a room with Belle? At the hospital last year?” he remembered. “I can remember transferring you because you had some difficulties processing what had happened during the fire. Belle’s company didn’t seem to be helping.”  
“She was lovely though,” Ruby said quickly. “But very quiet – and she kept to herself, just like I did. I never really figured out what memories she had forgotten.”  
“Oh, there was quite a bit more to the story than that,” doctor Whale confessed. “She had no memory loss after all. It was made up to escape an arranged marriage.”  
Ruby stared at him as though he was insane and making that up, but she could soon tell from his serious gaze that there was no lie in his words.  
“Really?” she asked in a whisper.  
“Really,” he replied just as secretively. “Her father had a gambling addiction – and in order to get money, he had basically sold her to Gaston Molyneux. She was to marry him, and if she did, then her father’s monetary problems would be solved, at least momentarily.”  
“Isn’t that illegal?” Ruby wondered, not approving of what she heard.  
“Not if nobody knows,” doctor Whale continued. “So while she was in hospital, I decided to put Rumford Gold in her room, since they both seemed like very solitary figures, both with memory loss – or at least that was what I thought. Mister Gold had been robbed and he had no memories of the night it had happened – so he didn’t even know who had robbed him. He’d been hit in the head with a baseball bat – was blinded – at least temporarily – and strangely enough, Belle took care of him. She read books to him, let him listen to her music, entertained him for days, and somewhere in that week – it was hardly more than a week – they realized their common attraction for one another.”  
Pausing for a moment, he noticed how Ruby hung onto his every word, and he added with a grin: “On their last night in the hospital, they were already sharing their bed. Caught them right in the act.”  
As Ruby started grinning like crazy and her cheeks turned rather red, she whispered: “Don’t you have some sort of an oath to keep? Are you even allowed to tell me these things?”  
He shrugged, never too bothered with rules like that. “Probably not, but I’m trying to tell you what inspired me to ask you out.”  
Ruby kept quiet again, waiting for him to finish the tale.  
“Well… As I saw them in that moment, I knew that they were happy – at least at that time – but I did not think it could last. After all, with the age gap between them and the fact they hardly knew each other… But Belle immediately went to live with him – told her father that she was to become his caretaker. And he in his turn helped her father get the help he needed. While her father was undergoing therapy, Belle lived with mister Gold, spoiled him and he spoiled her, and when her father returned, mister Gold gave his cabin in the woods to the man, where he is surrounded by nature and spends his days fishing and wood crafting, and Maurice French is better than he has ever been. Has dinner with Belle and mister Gold every Sunday.”  
Ruby smiled, glad to hear that everything had ended up alright with mister French as well, but then remembered something: “What about mister Gold’s memories? Did they ever return to him?”  
“Afraid not,” he replied. “Those memories are probably gone forever. But sheriff Swan did some further investigating. Apparently, the items that were missing were mostly jewelry – obviously not belonging to mister Gold himself, but jewelry his ex-wife had left in their house over a decade ago. Took mister Gold ages to figure out that it was the jewelry that was missing, and he wasn’t particularly bothered by it. Sheriff Swan decided to go and talk to Rumford’s ex-wife, who has been living in Boston for over a decade, with a man who’s at least ten years younger than her, the same man that stole her away from mister Gold back then. He’s apparently quite a well-known sportsman in the area. Has been playing baseball with the Boston Pirates for ages. Perhaps not as rich as mister Gold, but not much poorer either, and he has a lifestyle that matches up to it.”  
“Another example of a successful relationship where there is quite an age gap, I see…” Ruby said with a flirty smile, and she saw how doctor Whale licked his lips.  
“Not exactly…” he said slowly, and as Ruby narrowed her eyes, he continued. “The relationship was not unsuccessful at the time, but something unexpected happened when sheriff Swan went to investigate the case. She suspected that the former Mrs. Gold had something to do with it, since all the missing jewels had been hers. But the sheriff didn’t really find any further leads on it, and got a little distracted…”  
“How so?” Ruby asked with wide eyes.  
“Killian Jones – the baseball player, that is – started flirting with sheriff Swan. Unsuccessfully at first, but apparently sheriff Swan was unable to resist his charm. When Milah Jones – former misses Gold – found out, she ran straight to her ex-husband.”  
Unable to keep up, Ruby wrinkled her nose and frowned. “Why would she do that?”  
“Because it _had_ been Killian Jones who had stolen the jewels and smacked Gold in the head with a baseball bat. He had confessed it to Milah soon after, who had been worried about her ex-husband, but not to the point of coming clean. She had protected her lover at that time, and uninterested in the jewels as she was, they had sold them soon after, and all traces of the robbery had been erased rather quickly. She had been fine with Killian getting away with the crime, until he cheated on her. By going to her ex-husband, the woman had hoped that mister Gold would sue Killian Jones, so that the man would end up in jail – separated from sheriff Swan.”  
Ruby gasped and shook her head as she listened. “Incredible! Where on earth did you learn all this?”  
“Belle told me,” he replied honestly. “I asked about it when I visited the library a month ago, and she told me the entire story.”  
“I keep on intending to visit the library myself,” Ruby admitted. “But I always forget it. I guess I’m not much of a reader.”  
“Well, you should definitely visit it. Belle is doing an excellent job. Apparently the library was a gift from mister Gold for her birthday.”  
“Impressive gift! But what happened to the baseball player? Was he sued for knocking Gold in the head?”  
“Strangely enough, no. Though Gold was pissed at him for what he did, he thought it was poetic justice that his ex-wife had her lover leave her for a younger partner. What comes around, goes around, is what he told her, and then he rubbed it in that if Killian had not hit him in the head, he would have never met his True Love, and Milah left Storybrooke again in a fury.”  
Ruby chuckled. “That is a brilliant story! Absolutely amazing. Who knew things like that ever happened in Storybrooke, I mean…”  
Suddenly, it seemed like the restaurant grew quiet, and as Ruby turned her head to figure out why, she saw how mister Gold was kneeling down by Belle’s side, opening a box in the palm of his hand as he softly spoke to her – the distance making it impossible to hear what he said precisely – though it was not too hard to make an estimated guess.  
As everyone kept quiet and beheld the moment, they all saw how tears of happiness started streaming down Belle’s face, and she nodded excitedly before she brought her face to that of the man she loved, crying out: “Yes! Yes, of course!” before she kissed him passionately, and an applause rose around them, which Ruby and doctor Whale soon joined.  
“How romantic!” Ruby cried out, completely in awe of what they had been allowed to witness, and as Belle and Rumford returned to their seats, blushing and grinning like teenagers, Ruby turned to doctor Whale, who was blushing too.  
“Basically, what I want to say is… I’ve been alone for far too long to my liking… And I want to try and find happiness like they have…”  
Ruby stopped him by reaching out for his hand, and as she squeezed it gently, she said: “Say no more. We’ll look for it together then.”

**The end.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading Bedmates and leaving all the comments that you did! You have no idea how much I appreciated the support from so many Rumbelle fans like yourself! It really makes me feel like we're all in this together - especially while canon seems intent on screwing us over after each and every episode this season. :-P 
> 
> I might soon update the story with a cover art or a banner - which I will probably do in a new chapter, so make sure to Bookmark it if you don't want to miss out on that. 
> 
> I will also start posting a MASSIVE Rumbelle fanfiction to AO3 soon, which is not completely finished yet and where the updates won't follow as quickly as they did for this story. (But on the bright side, most chapters are much longer...)  
> The story is called "Heart of the Ship", and I'm quite certain that you'll all be intrigued to learn that in that story, Belle and Rumplestiltskin become bedmates as well, very early in the story, even. The reasons why are completely different though, and the genre is much more of a Fantasy - Adventure - Romance - Comedy - Smut kind. (Is that a decent genre description? I doubt it. But trust me, you'll love it.)
> 
> And no worries, I have not forgotten about the Rumbelle Hogwarts AU and "The Color of Magic" either. Updates to those stories will follow soon.
> 
> So once more, thank you very much for all the feedback! Hope you enjoyed Bedmates!


	17. Artwork

_As promised, some artwork to go with the story._

_These were made by me. If anyone ever wants to contribute some art for the story, I would be honored and thrilled and grateful and probably a million other things too. And obviously I'd add it to the story to share it with the rest of you. :-)_   
_(goes for all my stories, and probably for all stories ever made anywhere. Which writer does not love art?)_

_Thank you all for the amazing comments I've received over the past weeks, you're all beautiful people to leave me such inspiring words._

_(As for the art - I did two - one very colorful, the other one very dark and angsty :-P I could not make up my mind. Enjoy!)_

 

 


End file.
